Kahane Returns to the Knesset

The party that considers itself a bastion of morality has turned itself into the door through which despicable racists and violent nationalists will enter the halls of power

Habayit Hayehudi members vote to unite with Otzma Yehudit on February 20, 2019

Haaretz editorial, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lust for power knows no limits. The pressure he brought to bear on Habayit Hayehudi and National Union – including a promise of the housing and education ministries, two seats in the security cabinet and a reserved spot on the Likud list for one of their members – bore fruit. Rabbi Rafi Peretz responded to Netanyahu’s call to unite with the Otzma Yehudit party, comprised of followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, which will receive slots No. 5 and No. 8 on the joint ticket.”

“Thus, under the sponsorship of a prime minister who is prepared to sacrifice every principle and smash every institution in his battle to entrench his regime, the followers of Kahane will return to the Knesset riding like the Messiah on the donkey of religious Zionism. Kahane’s Kach party, which championed the deportation of the Arabs from all of “Eretz Israel,” was disqualified from contending for Knesset in 1988 because its platform contained racist incitement. It held a Knesset seat from 1984 until 1988. After the massacre by Baruch Goldstein, a Kach activist, at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in 1994, the government declared the Kach and Kahane Chai movements illegal terror organizations. Kach is also on the American and EU lists of terror groups. But none of this matters to Netanyahu, who is determined to win at any price.”…

“This is chilling proof of the direction the right is taking, led by Netanyahu. Meretz chairwoman Tamar Zandberg announced that if Habayit Hayehudi submits a slate with Otzma Yehudit candidates on it, her party will petition the Central Elections Committee to disqualify it. Otzma Yehudit should not be allowed to run.” (more…)

Michael Ben Ari and Itamar Ben Gvir of the Otzma Yehudit party outside the Central Elections Committee on February 21, 2019

Times of Israel reports,

AIPAC slams racist and reprehensible extremist party wooed by Netanyahu

“In a rare comment on internal Israeli politics, AIPAC and the AJC, two mainstream US Jewish organizations, condemned the recent merger deal between the Jewish Home party with the extremist Otzma Yehudit party, a move that was midwifed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The deal could see the entrance of at least one lawmaker from the party of Meir Kahane’s disciples into the 21st Knesset after the April elections.”

“In a statement late Thursday the American Jewish Committee said the “views of Otzma Yehudit are reprehensible. They do not reflect the core values that are the very foundation of the State of Israel.”…“Historically, the views of extremist parties, reflecting the extreme left or the extreme right, have been firmly rejected by mainstream parties, even if the electoral process of Israel’s robust democracy has enabled their presence, however small, in the Knesset,” the carefully worded statement said.”

“It did not mention the Jewish Home party by name or Netanyahu, who was instrumental in pushing the two parties to unite. On Friday, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful pro-Israel lobby, retweeted the AJC statement. “We agree with AJC. AIPAC has a longstanding policy not to meet with members of this racist and reprehensible party,” it said.” (more…)